Random Thoughts on Bynum, Remaining Summer Moves, and Team Defense

So…Andrew Bynum! It’s a wild acquisition with a wide range of potential outcomes. Let’s briefly run through a good, a (that’s too) bad, and an ugly scenario, then a few other random thoughts, not necessary tied to Bynum.

The favorite idea of all for next season is: Kyrie plays 75 games, with Andy and Andrew suiting up for 65 each. This isn’t a “best case” where everyone is completely healthy, but a reasonably injury-free year. The twin bigs don’t play back-to-backs, while otherwise receiving 25 – 28 minutes per night; the reduced workload keeps them out of the doctor’s office. I like either with Tristan or Bennett, but am really enthused about this duo playing together; Bynum always thrived with Pau Gasol operating from the high post, and Varejao’s passing has become a highly underrated aspect of his game. The combined size and rebounding exceeds anything hoped for next season. With growth from Dion and Tristan, and Kyrie taking the next step to superstardom, this crew battles towards the middle of the Eastern Conference.

The “that’s too bad” case involves Bynum playing nine games or something. Basically, the reason why $6 million guaranteed was his maximum offer rears it’s ugly head; his knees are shot. Varejao stays healthy though; Mike Brown’s influences reigns on defense; Kyrie, Tristan, and Dion progress nicely; and Jack / Miles / Clark / Bennett / Zeller provide the deepest bench in years. The team sneaks into the playoffs, able to walk away with their financial flexibility in tact.

Finally, the “do we have to talk about this?” scenario: Bynum can’t get on the court; Varejao misses significant time for the fourth straight season; and Kyrie sits for fifteen games. Suddenly we again witness a team of 22-year olds anchored by Tyler Zeller on defense; the lost opportunity of tying up $12 million of cap space on Bynum resides as an albatross to playoff hopes. Replacing Coach Scott, Marreese Speights, Shaun Livingston and Wayne Ellington with Mike Brown, Jarrett Jack, Earl Clark, and rookie Anthony Bennett, while relying on growth from the youngsters was not enough to win forty games. Another lottery trip ensues, with the springtime spent hoping for a miraculous summer.

Another shooter. They ranked 23rd in the NBA for three-point field goal percentage last year and 17th for made threes. Adding Jack is solid and hopefully Bennett flashes NBA range, but a small forward with definite ability to step outside looks really nice between Dion and Tristan. Perhaps CJ Miles can start, as a Dion / Gee wing combo lacks sufficient floor spacing (unless Waiters really honed his shot this summer…please knock-down 35% from deep next year, Dion…pretty please…). Placing Sergey Karasev at six on my draftboard may make me his biggest believer, but I am not heaping any expectations on him for next year. Free agent options are drying up quickly; Luke Babbitt is 6’ – 9” and made 43% of his threes in 2011 – 2012. The team has run out of Lukes, and stashing a deep-shooting wing at the end of the bench could prove beneficial if Gee / Clark aren’t providing ideal spacing. Babbitt should be available for the minimum. Also, what about Metta World Peace? He said if a small market team snags him from waivers, he will retire, but the Cavs have a lot of familiar faces and a decent amount of minutes to offer. The artist formerly known as Artest drains 35% of his threes and offers strong defense; if the Cavs strive to keep getting weirder and more interesting, MWP fills a few needs on this roster.

Matt Dellavedova. I am rooting for this undrafted rookie to make the roster as the fifteenth man. When not wowing in Canton, he should be a reasonable “break glass in case of emergency” third-string point guard.

Another Center. What? That’s sixteen players? Plus, the team just signed Bynum and drafted Zeller last year?!? Well, I am a little nervous about my “ugly” scenario. How about trading Alonzo Gee for a sign-and-traded 1 year, $2.2 million Timofey Mozgov? The Nuggets lost Iguodala and Corey Brewer and just signed JJ Hickson. Cleveland’s battle for minutes at the wing would include: Waiters, Jack, Miles, Gee and Clark, plus Karasev and free agent Shooter X (MWP or Babbitt). That doesn’t even include some minutes possibly going to Anthony Bennett. There are a lot of guys with a reasonable expectation of good health there. Why not add a fourth center, considering two of the existing three come with injury concerns? Mozgov isn’t an exciting grab, but is big and a veteran. Having a guy like that stashed at the end of the bench may come in handy.

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If Bynum, Varejao and Tristan combine for 200 games, this concern subsides, but team defense may still be an issue next year. I know; Mike Brown. But player personnel may still leave something to be desired. Jarrett Jack is an eight-year NBA vet and definitely not a defensive difference maker. Earl Clark receives a lot of praise from coaches for his defensive versatility, but numerically it’s hard to call him anything above an average defender. The team is still staffed largely by 22 year olds, with another rookie tapped to play 1500 minutes. Both centers are injury risks.

So, what’s the answer? To some extent, I want it to start with Kyrie and Dion; one the team’s star, the other hoping to move closer to that level. Kyrie has great size, deceptive athleticism, and court-smarts. The ability is certainly there; remember the 8 game stretch last season with 26 steals? He oftentimes coasts on defense though. Next season, ideally Kyrie can start facilitating more in a Chris Paul mode. Dion, Jack, Bynum, and maybe even Bennett will be able to shoulder offensive load. Mr. Irving can pick his spots for scoring over the first forty minutes, keep his teammates involved, and buckle-down on defense at the initial point of attack. Then in crunch time, destroy everyone…leave the opponent crying. Don’t get me wrong; Kyrie absolutely needs to remain the offensive focal point, but a routine commitment to defense from the team’s star would look great this year.

Regarding Waiters, part of what I liked about him out of Syracuse was his two-way play. I linked to this Sports Illustrated article a few times leading up to the 2012 draft; it touts the impact Dion made at Syracuse on defense. His sophomore year, he ended 4.6% of opponent possessions with a steal, the thirteenth best mark in the entire NCAA. He definitely showed a commitment to, and tenacity on defense that was enticing. Last year of course, he struggled as all rookies do, not only transitioning to a bigger, faster, more complex game, but also man-to-man defense. By all accounts, Dion is putting in work this summer. Hopefully some of his rest-time involves watching tape and talking to coaches about defense. Because Tristan will continue growing into a defensive force, and ideally Bynum clogs the paint for at least 1500 minutes, and Mike Brown’s system will help, but a defensive leap from Kyrie and Dion will go a long ways towards this team exceeding all expectations next year.

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That’s it for now. Summer League starts today. Let’s see what interesting results are added to an already noteworthy summer.

34 Responses to “Random Thoughts on Bynum, Remaining Summer Moves, and Team Defense”

Good call on MWP. They probably wouldn’t have to bid high if he’s talking China as an option. He’d love sitting/playing with Bynum. If the Cavs stink by the deadline, he would definitely be flipped to a contender. He has played with Brown. There is a need at SF. He’d add crazy character and toughness to a vanilla squad (something brought up in the podcast). The Cavs will have a very hard time falling to the best lottery odds this season with this new roster so they might as well compete.

John,
I am not 100% sure, but I think every team under the cap is allowed to put in a bid. The highest bid wins the rights to that player’s services for the year. The bid needs to stay under the salary cap.

Not a big fan of a severely over the hill Artest, but really did like the idea of starting Miles… His second team gunning kept a bunch of games competitive, and eventually shot us out of a couple games also but I really enjoyed watching Miles play, he rips random 25 footers off too much but that was kindov his role last year… good effort player and seemed to give a crap defensively

The possible starting linup of Kyrie, Dion, Clark/Gee, Tristan, Bynum… does look like spacing will be an issue, but if Kyrie gets to slightly below average defense, Dion gets to average defense… this could be a tough team to score on

With Kyrie and Dion being so good at attacking the basket, I don’t think it would be smart to have our 4 and 5 be lane cloggers in at the same time. For that reason I’d assume our starting lineup will avoid TT/Bynum. Obviously we have a lot of lineup flexibility, and Brown will play the guys a certain way depending on the situation, but accentuating the driving prowess of Kyrie and Dion is key to running this offense.

I’m beyond excited to see the different lineups we can run out there over the course of the game. I think AV will get run at the 4 throughout the season, and if Bynum is healthy, it will allow us to run with a small guard lineup of Kyrie, Dion, Jack playing with AV and Bynum at the 4 and 5. If the other team has an undersized SF, running with Kyrie, Dion, Bennett, AV, Bynum could be killer as well.

There are so many combinations for this team, on paper, it truly is exciting. Mike Brown NEEDS to let the offensive assistant(s) do some work with this team. There is absolutely ZERO reason to EVER have a stagnant, unimaginative lineup with this roster. Ever.

Good article….although in all honesty, I can barely see an “ugly” scenario. If Bynum & Varejao are both consistently hurt, then we get to watch Zeller develop some more, with TT also getting some more undersized center minutes. I’d certainly put that in the bad-to-underwhelming category, but no worse than last year, when we were all entertained by that reality before the tanking started in March. Losing Kyrie to injury again wouldn’t be fun, but we now have a competent backup in Jack, with Waiters also able to man the point for short stretches. I think even the “Good” scenario is a bit painful, as TT’s minutes will be cut, and I can’t see Bennett getting more than 25 minutes a game with all those bodies.

Count me in favor of the “start CJ Miles” crowd. He’s always been a hit-or-miss guy. If he’s in “hit” mode, we take a 4-for-5 on 3’s from him in the first 8 minutes, and leave the first quarter with a 10 point lead. If he misses his first three shots, take him off the court for Gee/Bennett/Karasev before things get too ugly. Works for me.

I love the talent and flexibility, but the roster doesn’t seem “done” to me yet. Would not be surprised at all to see one of our bigs get moved before the start of the season for more wing depth. Per Amico, Cavs definitely still looking at trades.

Yeah, Colin talked me out of MWP. He used the knucklehead theory: “You can have one knucklehead (Bynum) in your locker room, but not two.” I responded that the only reason it worked in L.A. is that L.A. had a super Alpha Dog in Kobe Bryant. There’s no Kobe on the Cavs to keep MWP and Bynum in line. Plus, Artest tends to take a lot of really bad shots when he’s not in a highly structured situation with people telling him not to shoot. He might be nice, but the team already has four potential small forwards.

Count me in the “Karasev exceeds rookie expectations” camp. Karasev may be the knock down three point shooter this team has craved for years. He shot a ridiculous 49% from three on 4.6 attempts per game in 11 games of Eurocup play this year. That’s some high level stuff. The 2.4 dimes and only 1.4 turnovers in 32 minutes a game bodes well too. Truthfully, given his skinny frame and ball handling skills, I could see him playing at the 2 more than the 3 on the second unit. That’s if he comes over…

I have to say I’m not in favor of Gee for Mozgov (though I do like me some Mozgov). Gee will finally be in his place as a 7th-8th man, but there’s also still a possibility he could start. He’s still probably the Cavs’ best perimeter defender.

I’m thinking that everyone is too worried about the depth that the Cavs have in bigs, C in particular. It would seem logical that they will get at least a partial season out of both Andy and Bynum. Zeller may be only a back up but aren’t backups there to fill in for injuries. I find it improbable that Zeller has to start more than half of the games. Zeller is not that bad considering that they would still have TT and EC as well as Porter to put into a big rotation.

Remember too that they have long players like Kadji and Justin Harper on the summer league team who could also possibly be end of the bench long players who play the 4 and can shoot.

I understand the concern about potential injuries but it seems to me that the Cavs have done alright in addressing depth.

Sign me up for the Karasev “unreasonable expectations” club, as well. I think people are forgetting that this kid has played at some extremely high levels of basketball! Against grown men! Including EuroCup, Olympics, etc. He is ahead of any college kid coming in to the league due to this. Plus, his English is very good. I see an easier assimilation that say, Andy or Z had. This kid might turn out to be the absolute steal of this past draft…

@Kj I really like Karasev, but he’s going to be a shooting guard in the NBA and won’t have any time at small forward unless he puts on a ton of weight.

I wouldn’t mind having CJ Miles start. I think him and Alonzo Gee could make up a decent small forward pairing. Gee is really good when he is cutting to the hoop and playing tough defense. He just played too much last year and had too many chances to mess up.

I also think that having Bennet at small forward with Thompson and Varejao/Varejao and Bynum/ Thompson and Bynum would be wonderful. The team defense could cover up for Bennet’s slight slowness against forwards. We can’t have Zeller and Bennet on the floor at once. Bennet is also long enough that he can probably recover/interrupt for others if people rotate to help him out.

@Nothingwood really? Cuz Porter weighs the same as Karasev and is taller, hence skinnier. Bullock is a like 4lbs heavier than Karasev. Seems to me Karasev is right in line with other SF’s drafted this year…

Taking this with an Eddy Curry sized grain of salt, Dion looked fat, slow, and terrible in their first summer league game, all of his “work” he has put in over the summer didnt show at all… really disappointing

Lakers were doubling and fouling him every time he thought about touching the ball, but still

I just, JUST, brought up the Luke Babbitt possibility on the newspaper website and spoke to a sports radio talking head about him this evening. Going through NBA.com free agents, he’s the only UFA streak shooter out there. Played for $1.9M last year, can be had with the MLE with room to spare. Would be nice to have a guy to bring in for 5 – 8 minutes a game when we need a 3, and this guy thinks he’s a 3 point specialist. Don’t know what happened to him in Portland that he wore out his welcome by April, last December he was shooting the lights out.

Totally disagree on Dion. Draw and kick game was phenomenal, and he should have had at least 8-10 assists, easy. His shot wasn’t falling, still seems to have shot IQ issues, but he got wherever he wanted on the floor, and if it weren’t for the horrendous Cavs shooting overall Dion would have piled up the dimes. Looked every bit the combo guard. Defensive intensity was up also, but I expected that. Brown will sit him if he doesn’t D up.

Tyler had a decent statistical game and looked slightly bigger if you squinted.

As for the rest of it, agree 100% with T’s assessment. Zeller looked no bigger or different really. Had some nice plays, missed open jumpers he shoulda made.

Felix was a completely different payer in the second half. Did a bit of everything and showed better range than I thought and really good athleticism. Lots of hustle, too. Gee’s days may be ultimately numbered…

Felix has that motor. Shot looked solid, and he had a couple really nice blocked treys. Dude closes out with authority. He will get minutes for Mike Brown.

Speaking of which…DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO SEE THE CAVS DEFENDING MULTIPLE PICK AND ROLLS!!!!!!!! Yes, I justed shouted that!!! I cannot overstate how much I love Brown’s hard hedge scheme. Zeller in particular is a very competent pnr defender in this set up, as mobility is a big factor. I know its pretty easy to shut down a summer league squad as bad as the Lakers’, but we suffocated those guys for a good 5 minute stretch. Welcome back Mike Brown!

One other note on Zeller…still seems to get pushed around too much for my tastes, and for a “quick” big, he doesn’t get off his feet to challenge shots very quickly.

@KJ I don’t think Sergei is two hundred pounds. He looks way too lanky in his videos to really stop someone from murdering him in the post. He’s not someone we are going to think of as an athletic specimen.

K.I. should not go CP3 mode. High assist PG’s don’t win squat. K.I. is something I haven’t seen or recall in my lifetime. He can be the first high scoring PG. Per Basketball-Reference.com, K.I. is the first NBA player to shoot 18ppg, 46%FG, and 36%3FG in his first 2 seasons. This kid is amazing, Simmons is right about having him at #7 on his trade value. Personally, I think he is a top 3 player if he plays 82 games this season. Remember, he is the same size as Rose and towers over CP3.

Brandon,
Kyrie will not be a top three player if he doesn’t continue improving his defense. Saving a little energy on offense could help with that. That is the basic idea I was trying to present. I am fine with Kyrie scoring 23 per game, but for the first 40 minutes, if his shot isn’t there, he can defer, get back on D, buckle down, and wait for the next possession to see if the opportunity is there to amaze on offense.

@Brandon I have to agree with you, however I’d have to say that KI’s assists will go up to around 8-9 just due to the natural progression of getting higher quality/more developed team mates. He’s a great passer and so is Dion, they should be able to learn to play off each other effectively as long as they aren’t too selfish with the ball. (Sometimes a little selfishness is a good thing, just no where near early Kobe levels) If each of them gets around 12-15 shots a game they can average 20-25 points a game including foul shots. And despite that he should look to score, he knows he is a point guard and will be measured by assists as well when it all comes to an end.

Our alpha dog would be Mike Brown if we needed to keep MWP and Bynum in line. I still don’t want Ron Artest, he has been declining badly and the last two years he is basically Alonzo Gee in production.

Karasev being underweight isn’t an issue at this point. He’s 19, not 24. Most 19 year-old basketball players need to add weight if they play SF-C. He needs to bulk up….That’s not unusual.

Mike Brown is going to stress defense to the kids unlike Scott. It will be his main priority. It’s the primary way this team improves. It’s more important than the addition of Jack, the rookies or Bynum. If they can play solid team defense and become a middle of the pack defense team they’ll improve by 10 game or more. That’s how bad they were last year. While Dion and Kyrie may never become renowned for their defense they can improve. Defense is more about a mentality and effort. There is nothing athletically that Mo Williams and Delonte West can do that Kyrie and Dion can’t do better. If they give the effort and are willing to work, they’ll be fine.

Look, the numbers on Karasev and Porter and Bullock are basically all the same. 197-200lbs. Stop trying to pretend Karasev is somehow thinner than his peers. He is not. Those numbers are straight from Draftexpress and they are known for having the correct numbers.

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